1. Technical Field
The disclosure relates to an electronic device, an accessory, and a method for detecting an accessory.
2. Description of the Related Art
Accessories, e.g. headsets, microphones and speakers, with or without a remote control function are convenient for users to use electronic devices, such as multimedia players, personal digital assistants (PDA), smart phones, mobile phones and tablet computers, with versatile functionalities, such as listening to music, recording sounds, and receiving a phone call.
The conventional detecting mechanism used by electronic devices for identifying accessories, e.g. different headsets with a microphone and different headsets without a microphone, or for identifying different control functions of an accessory is according to a signal level detected through an audio jack (e.g., by way of analog approach). Different electronic device manufacturers may have their own specifications to define detected voltage levels for the accessories. In some situations, the conventional detecting mechanism used by an electronic device for identifying accessories made by “A” company may make misjudgment if the consumed current of an accessory made by “B” company is the same as that of an accessory made by the “A” company. In addition, conventional detecting mechanism has no extensibility since the tolerance of the consuming current (e.g., for MIC) is too large. The conventional detecting method could only detect four different accessories and support three remote control buttons, e.g., Back button, Play/Stop button and Forward button. Further, since the detection is by way of voltage detection, the electronic device needs at least 0.5 seconds to detect the connection of the accessory.